Documentation forSQL Sentry

Object Groups

Introduction

Object Groups are useful when you need to apply similar policies to a set of objects that don't exist within the same hierarchical group in your SQL Sentry environment. These objects could be dispersed throughout your environment in different sites, groups, or subtrees, but if they share a similar set of characteristics, they may be ideal candidates for a similar set of policies.

SQL Sentry Object Groups


Take for example all of the transaction log backup jobs within your environment. You may wish to suppress Runtime Threshold alerts generated when these jobs run by disabling the Send Email action. Object Groups allow you to do this without affecting any other agent jobs. In the past, this would involve you having to go and touch each of the transaction log backup job settings individually. Object Groups allow you to avoid the tedious process, saving you time because you can quickly locate objects by name or category, add them to a group, and apply a set of policies.

As Object Groups exist outside of the normal SQL Sentry hierarchy, a condition or setting configured for an Object Group is applied last after any inherited or explicitly defined condition or setting. In this way, Object Group conditions and settings have the final say within your environment.

As mentioned earlier, typical uses include disabling Runtime Threshold alerts for all transaction log backup jobs and applying policies to QA servers that may exist within several sites of your environment. When you create an Object Group, you choose how configured conditions and settings are applied in the group. You can create an ObjectGroup in which configured conditions and settings apply strictly to the group members. Alternatively, you may create an Object Group in which configured conditions and settings apply to the group members and their children. For more information, see the following section Creating New Object Groups. 

Evaluation Order

Each Object Group you create also has an associated evaluation order. This evaluation order is specific to just the set of Object Groups in your environment. This is valuable when you have an object that belongs to multiple Object Groups with a divergent set of policies. The evaluation order allows you to control which group's configured conditions and settings are applied. A configured setting or condition from the ObjectGroup with the highest evaluation order will be applied last, and therefore will be the effective setting or condition. For example, if you have ten object groups, with orders 1 through 10, then 10 will be the highest/last applied.

Note:  With object groups, the alert is applied to the first in the list. For example, if you have a Top SQL: Duration Threshold Max alert and it was applied in 2 object groups; group 1 and group 5, then the alert in group 1 will eclipse the alert in group 5, so only the Top SQL: Duration Threshold Max alert defined in group 1 is sent.

Settings

When you add new objects to an ObjectGroup, any setting that is applicable to that object type will be configurable in the Settings pane. By default, each object in an ObjectGroup still receives its base set of inherited settings from its parent objects in the SQL Sentry hierarchy. If you would like to override these settings, define a setting within the ObjectGroup itself. Change the Defined setting to True. After you define a setting for an ObjectGroup, that setting is reflected in any applicable objects that belong to that group.

Conditions

Just like settings, condition/action combinations become available as appropriate when objects are added to a group. With any ObjectGroup selected, you can configure conditions through the Conditions pane. For more information, see the following section Configuring Conditions and Settings for an Object Group.

Creating New Object Groups

Additional Information: See the blog post on Creating Object Groups in SQL Sentry.

To create a new Object Group, complete the following steps:

1. Double-click the Object Groups node in the Navigator pane to open the Object Groups Editor window.
 SQL Sentry Navigator Pane select Object Groups

2. Select Add in the Groups section of the Object Groups Editor window to open the Add Group dialog window. 

SQL Sentry Object Group Editor Add Group

Note:  The Groups section of the editor window contains any previously configured groups in your environment. The Group Members section of the editor window allows you to view individual members of any selected Object Group.

3. Enter a name and description for the group. Also take note of the Applies To drop-down box. The following options are available:

SQL Sentry Add Group window

Option Description
Selected group members and their children Any conditions or settings you configure for the group also apply to the children of the group members. This makes the group's settings and conditions inheritable.
Selected group members only Any conditions or setting you configure for the group only apply to the specific members of the group and have no effect on their children. This makes the group's settings and conditions noninheritable.
Note:  If you're creating an ObjectGroup to set policies for all of the QA servers in your environment, choose Selected group members and their children because this gives you access to applicable settings and conditions from the instance level down to the object level.

If you're creating an ObjectGroup to set policies for just a finite set of objects and do not wish to impact or have access to children of the object, choose Selected group members only. Given the transaction log backup job use case discussed earlier, it wouldn't matter which Applies To option you chose because the agent job object is a leaf node in the SQL Sentry hierarchy.

4. Select Ok to add your Object Group.

SQL Sentry Add Group window Ok

Adding Object Group Members

To add new members to a group: 

1. Select a group in the Groups section of the editor window, and then select Add in the Group Members section of the editor window.SQL Sentry Object Groups Editor Add Group Member

2. In the Select Group Members dialog screen, choose the object type of the group member you'd like to add from the tree view, and then select Search to view objects of that type in your monitored environment.

 SQL Sentry Select Group Members window Search

3. Select an object, and then select OK to add it to the group. 

SQL Sentry Select Group Members Ok

Note:  You can add multiple objects by pressing Ctrl or Shift.

Configuring Conditions and Settings for an Object Group

Once you've added your desired objects to the group, you can begin configuring the conditions and settings for the group. Configure conditions and settings, through the Conditions and Settings pane. If you don't see the Conditions and Settings pane, use the View (View > Conditions) menu to open it.

To add a condition to a group, complete the following steps:

  1.  Select Object Groups in the Navigator Pane, and select the desired Object Group. 
  2. Open the Conditions pane, and then select Add to open the Actions Selector window. 
  3. Choose your desired condition/action combinations, and then select OK. 
Note:  Any conditions that are applicable to the objects within your group are available for you to configure. You can also configure settings for the ObjectGroup through the Settings pane. Any settings that are applicable to the objects in your group are available for you to configure. As discussed earlier, by default, each object in an ObjectGroup still receives its base set of inherited settings from its superior parent objects in the SQL Sentry hierarchy. If you would like to override these settings, you must first define a setting within the ObjectGroup. To do this you need to set the Defined flag to true in the Settings pane. After you define a setting for an Object Group, that setting is reflected in any applicable objects that belong to that group.
Additional Information: For more information about Object Groups, see the Manipulating Runtime Thresholds with Object Groups blog post.
Note:  If you're ever unsure of where an object is receiving its inherited settings, you can check. The Active Settings List report lists this information for each setting in the Object Name column. Access this report from the Reports menu (Reports > General > Active Settings List).

SQL Sentry Active Settings List Report

Alternatively, you can view this information directly at the individual object level. Select the desired object in the Navigator pane, and then open the Settings pane. The Inherent From Parent section of each setting group contains the name of the superior object that is passing down that group of settings. In the case where the object's setting has been defined with an Object Group, it lists that Object Group as the parent.